September 8, 2017
(NPR) – Wealthy Chinese woman are hiring Americans to be surrogate moms. We explore how the relationship between a Chinese woman and her American surrogate changed during a particularly difficult pregnancy.
September 7, 2017
(ABC News) – A California judge ruled that a teen girl declared brain dead more than three years ago after a tonsillectomy may still be technically alive, allowing a malpractice lawsuit against the hospital to proceed. Alameda County Judge Stephen … Read More
September 7, 2017
(ABC News) – New York’s ban on assisted suicide will stand after the state’s highest court on Thursday rejected arguments from terminally ill patients who say they should have the right to seek life-ending drugs from a doctor. The Court … Read More
September 7, 2017
(Scientific American) – Harvey is the first major storm since the federal government revised emergency preparedness standards for hospitals, in response to Katrina and 2012’s Superstorm Sandy. Now, health care providers that receive Medicare or Medicaid dollars must have disaster preparedness plans, including relocation … Read More
September 7, 2017
(Kaiser Health News) – Although hospices now serve more than 1.4 million people a year, this specialized type of care, meant for people with six months or less to live, continues to evoke resistance, fear and misunderstanding. “The biggest misperception … Read More
September 7, 2017
(Reuters) – The couple had known from the 24th week of the pregnancy that their child would be born with Arnold Chiari Type II syndrome – a structural defect in the brain. Since abortions in India are allowed only up … Read More
September 6, 2017
(TIME) – Two scientists who paved the way for widely used vaccines and another who discovered key players in cell growth have been awarded prestigious medical research awards. The Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation also announced Wednesday that it was … Read More
September 6, 2017
(Nature) – More than 11,000 people died when Ebola tore through West Africa between 2014 and 2016, and yet clinicians still lack data that would enable them to reliably identify the disease when a person first walks into a clinic. … Read More
September 6, 2017
(Medical Xpress) – A new national survey of more than 2,000 physicians across multiple specialties finds that physicians believe overtreatment is common and mostly perpetuated by fear of malpractice, as well as patient demand and some profit motives. A report … Read More
September 6, 2017
(Quartz) – Earlier this week, doctors at the Mayo Clinic and the Scripps Research Institute published a review article in the Journal of American Geriatrics calling and outlining designs for human clinical trials on the first class of drugs developed … Read More
September 6, 2017
(BBC) – A test that involves drawing a spiral on a sheet of paper could be used to diagnose early Parkinson’s disease. Australian researchers have trialled software that measures writing speed and pen pressure on the page. Both are useful … Read More
September 6, 2017
(Reuters) – Kentucky’s “unapologetically pro-life” governor and the state’s last abortion clinic will square off on Wednesday in a federal courtroom in a case that could make it the first U.S. state without an abortion provider. In a three-day trial, … Read More
September 6, 2017
(STAT News) – But three years after IBM began selling Watson to recommend the best cancer treatments to doctors around the world, a STAT investigation has found that the supercomputer isn’t living up to the lofty expectations IBM created for … Read More
September 6, 2017
(CBS News) – For some couples, finding a job that offers benefits to cover infertility could be the difference between having kids and not. One in eight couples in the United States has trouble getting pregnant and the cost of … Read More
September 5, 2017
(STAT News) – An analysis of two influential studies of prostate cancer screening concludes that the much-debated test “significantly” reduces deaths from the disease, suggesting that current recommendations against routine PSA screening might be steering men away from a lifesaving … Read More
September 5, 2017
(Scientific American) – Yemen’s cholera outbreak has infected 612,703 people and killed 2,048 since it began in April, and some districts are still reporting sharp rises in new cases, data from the World Health Organization and Yemen’s health ministry showed … Read More
September 5, 2017
(Vox) – The federal government just put out new statistics for drug overdose deaths in 2016 — and they are very, very grim. The preliminary figures from the National Center for Health Statistics suggest that there were more than 64,000 … Read More
September 5, 2017
(STAT News) – In 2014, the most recent year for which data was available, Novartis (NVS) headquarters in Switzerland charged its U.S. subsidiary significantly more for four medicines than what its subsidiaries paid in roughly a dozen other countries. These … Read More
September 5, 2017
(Pro Publica) – Today, the average mother in the U.K. receives more comprehensive and consistent care, ranging from earlier prenatal appointments to closer monitoring after she gives birth, than does her American counterpart. And if a mother dies, the U.K. … Read More
September 5, 2017
(The Atlantic) – In 2009, with little attention from abroad, the government of India launched a new identification program that has gone on to become the largest biometric database in the world. The program, known as Aadhaar, has collected the … Read More
September 5, 2017
(Kaiser Health News) – Families who oppose mandated immunization for schoolchildren may be seeking medical exemptions to get around the new state law, which requires kindergartners entering public and private schools to be fully vaccinated regardless of families’ personal beliefs, … Read More
September 5, 2017
(Reuters) – Diabetes patients who use smartphone applications to manage their condition should know that not all apps are reliable, researchers say. “We have more than 165,000 health and fitness apps in app stores right now and little control over … Read More
September 5, 2017
(New York Times) – Now these DNA analysis methods are under the microscope, with scientists questioning their validity. In court testimony, a former lab official said she was fired for criticizing one method, and a former member of the New … Read More
September 4, 2017
(The Guardian) – The number of drug overdose deaths in the US increased by 21% last year, according to new statistics – with synthetic-opioid fatalities more than doubling in number. The National Center for Health Statistics, a division of the … Read More
September 4, 2017
(ABC News) – A reproductive rights group has raised concerns about Queensland’s health system after a mentally ill prisoner with a drug problem was barred from having an abortion. The 33-year-old woman, referred to by the Queensland Civil and Administrative … Read More
